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Depression

Depression, as the antidepressant drug commercials say, hurts. It hurts our bodies, our spirits and those around us. For many, depression is a part of life. For others it’s situational or it comes with the seasons. The common factors for people experiencing depression are things like low or sad moods, tearfulness, sometimes a wish to sleep a lot or an inability to sleep– it can go both ways, sometimes your thinking is fixated on a broken relationship, loss of a pet, job, friendship or other relationship that isn’t working out as well as you wish it would.

Whatever the reason for your feelings, folks dealing with depression often experience a profound sadness that goes beyond the normal “bad day” or even “bad week”. Depression often lingers around; it causes people to not enjoy things that used to bring them pleasure (could be a trip to the movies, sex with your spouse or hanging out with your kids), the common theme is that things that were once joyful moments in life have lost some of their shine because the depression (and depressed feelings) hang over these events like a dark cloud. Try as you might, getting these feelings to “go away” hasn’t worked.

If you’ve experienced a time of sadness that’s gone on longer than you wish it would (whether you noticed it or someone pointed it out to you) this is a sign that there may be something chemical happening inside of your brain that’s affecting how you cope with life. If you’re in this situation, I can help. There are lots of treatment options for depression. A few include:

Therapy: Meeting with a counselor can help to talk through the issues underlying your sadness and pain. Therapy options can be explored that include short term, long term and group options. Please ask for what you need and I’ll share on our call what I can do for you to help.

Antidepressants are often prescribed to treat depression and its symptoms. For most of my clients, the very best treatment for depression is talk therapy coupled with antidepressant medication. We can certainly talk about referrals for medication if you need them.

Neurofeedback: Many people can also benefit from neurofeedback therapy (eeg biofeedback) as a tool to help supplement their ongoing talk therapy. The benefit of neurofeedback is that it helps the brain achieve a sense of balance. People report that eeg biofeedback supports them to feel more hopeful, positive, and light-hearted.

EMDR (Eye Movement De-sensitization and Reprocessing) is a type of therapy that involves less talking to uncover the story behind the depression but rather works to help discover and de-sensitize people to the root causes of their depression. EMDR is an incredibly powerful treatment for resolving some of the toughest depression challenges and we can explore together if this is a good step for you.

Depression is painful, but you don’t have to be stuck in pain for the rest of your life. There any many solutions available and I would be more than happy to explore them with you. If you’re ready to take the next step, please call me for a FREE CONSULTATION to find out the best course of treatment for you. You can reach me directly by calling my office at 310-314-6933 or sending me a private email at mfoxmft@yahoo.com